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October 30, 2017

This past week, I spent several days visiting Asheville, North Carolina. It's a great city for walking and I stayed in an apartment which wasn't too far from the downtown. I found myself taking long walks on most days, either in the city or nearby. On my first full day, the rains came. Merrimon Avenue filled with water on either side and I decided to wait out the storm in a fine music store called the Musician's Workshop. I tried out an Ibanez hollow body electric guitar and messed around with a crazy pedal called Superego + that had multiple effects and even allowed overlays of one effect on another. It was fun, but really getting the most out of this kind of effects pedal would take more time than I currently have. Maybe someday.

When I looked up, the rain had stopped and I decided to take a walk at the Botanical Center right next to UNC Asheville just down the road. Normally, a quiet stream curls through the center, but not on this day. Here's a glimpse of the churning brown waters of the stream that afternoon.

The next day, I walked into downtown late in the morning. Most of the trees in town were still green, but here's an exception I saw along the way walking on Broadway.

My favorite stop in downtown is the Malaprop's bookstore. This week I had a gift card at the store, so I had the luxury of browsing through titles in various sections of the store. I did my research on one day, then bought the books on another day. I like science fiction books, so I looked at those possibilities, but I also checked out books of regional interest and the general fiction area as well. The store is replete with other sections such as Banned Books and Staff Picks, so those books are also worth checking out. On prior visits, I had seen books such as 1984 and the Just Kids memoir from Patti Smith that I later read.

But since it was lunchtime, I walked downhill toward the Green Sage on Broadway. This restaurant has great coffee and tea selections, and also has innovative fare for lunch or breakfast. On this day, the temperatures had dropped a bit, so I wanted a lunch with both hot and filling foods. After asking a few questions when I got to the head of the queue, I made my selections and they were brought to my table a few minutes later. My sandwich was called a Rainbow Wrap and its mix of veggies included beets, carrots, lettuce and alfalfa sprouts, augmented by olives and small hunks of feta. Very tasty. My soup was intriguing and warm -- lentils served in a curry-based soup. The piece de resistance was a spicy chai cider which brought the rest of the meal together and whose hot spicy taste felt like a pure burst of autumn. Green Sage is a magnet for a diverse group of people -- single, couples or in groups -- and ages ranging from students to retirees. Across the street, a new building is being erected, which will house a mix of condos and hotel rooms; the city continues to evolve from the one I first encountered about 8 years ago, with a big push toward providing more rooms in and around the downtown.

Later on the trip, I took a ride up into the hills of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Asheville has beautiful views even from the downtown, but it's magnified up on the parkway. Here's a couple glimpses of what I saw:

Back in Asheville, one can encounter some surprising sights. Here's the side of the original Moog studio off of Broadway:

Whether it's music, books, food, wine. beer or the outdoors, it seems there's always another adventure lurking around the corner in Asheville.

October 08, 2017

Last evening. my wife Cindy and I went with friends to see a highly entertaining musical performance at the re-modeled Norwood Theater in Norwood, Massachusetts. The show was called The British Invasion Years and used a clever premise to transcend the typical tribute band scheme. The four musicians played music from The Beatles and their Sixties contemporaries and then back stopped that with music they called The American Response. Even better, they didn't limit the music to the 1963-1965 period, but stretched out to cover music throughout the decade as long as it fit the themes.

The four musicians managed to play music from some very different groups and still make it succeed musically. The band's co-leaders are guitarist Lee Scott Howard and bassist Bobby M.. They've played together nearly 30 years and their musical rapport contributed to the band's tight musical feel. Lee and Bobby play their instruments well, but also are fine and versatile vocalists. Lee has unusual gifts -- he can hit the high notes akin to the Zombie's lead vocalist Colin Blunstone, but also plays some fine guitar. He mostly stayed with Sixties style licks, but couldn't resist occasionally adding some sizzle from more contemporary rock guitar licks. Bobby M. sang lead vocals on numerous tunes and anchored the bottom on his cherry-colored Rickenbacker bass guitar. Bandmate Jon Wolf adds versatility on keyboards and guitar, along with harmony vocals and the occasional turn on lead vocals. The fourth member of the regular group, Jeff Alai, is off the tour for now, but the substitute drummer played well and looked the part with his long blond hair.

So what about the music? The band kicked off the night with three songs from the early Beatles including I Saw her Standing There. Both Lee and Bobby were able to sing McCartney style vocals and the three singers added a nice harmony blend. The music then shifted both in time and style, as the band played Time of the Seasons from the Zombies. I saw the Zombies play a few years back, but this band did the songs justice. Lee's vocal range is outstanding, so did well on the lead vocals, with the band filling in the rest. Then Jon Wolf played the Rod Argent keyboard parts with verve. They followed with She's Not There, which was equally good. And so it went. In the British Invasion section, they flash cut between multiple groups of diverse styles including Herman's Hermits, the Kinks and notably, The Rolling Stones.

The Stones mini-set was impressive. It kicked off with Satisfaction, with Bobby on vocals and then they followed in quick succession with Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown and Jumping Jack Flash. Both of the latter tunes were done extremely well, with a mix of Jagger style vocals and expert guitar work from Lee Scott Howard. Here the guitar was much like the records, but had the verve of life performance. A bit later, the band did Back in the USSR and noted that the Beatles' White Album was celebrating a 50th anniversary.

After an intermission, the band shifted to music from American bands. For me, this section felt a bit weaker, but mainly due to the inclusion of a few chestnuts of bubble gum music and several tunes from the Monkees. But there were outstanding moments. The band launched into Love Her Madly and Lee Scott Howard dropped his voice into the bass register vocal and neatly captured the Jim Morrison style. Howard had a tough task, needing to both do the lead vocal and add the Robbie Krieger guitar parts, but he did well and the rest of the band were rock solid. The band did an obligatory rendition of Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond's song which has improbably made the journey from the NYC Brill Building to become the anthem for the local Red Sox. The band also played a Vietnam era song, Fortune Son, by the Creedence Clearwater Revival and captured that song's bittersweet mood. Earlier, the band had spent time with local Vietnam Vets and this song closed the circle.

The band closes the show with more Beatles music. On this night, Twist and Shout got folks dancing in the aisles and Got to Get You Into My Life was a rousing rocker. That was it for the formal set, but they stayed on and Howard began to sing the familiar vocals of Hey Jude and got the crowd revved up one more time. Afterward, the band members came out to the lobby and we chatted a bit with them as we headed out. This was a great show and I'd recommend it if they come to your area. They tour throughout the US and you can find their schedule at their web site.

October 01, 2017

The Vietnam War documentary from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on PBS offers 18 hours about one of the most traumatic periods in my lifetime. The program begins in 1945, as World War II was ending and the cold war was about to begin. Vietnam had been under colonial rule under the French, but hopes were emerging that the country could become independent. Most Americans knew very little about Vietnam until the early Sixties, but the battle between France and the local Vietminh armies ended with Vietnam being divided between North and South portions, split by a de-militarized zone. Some viewed this development as a last gasp of colonialism, others as a skirmish in the proxy war between the West and Communism. Even under Eisenhower, Americans were drawn in as advisers to help the South Vietnamese government fend off a military challenge from an insurgency group called the Vietcong, who were supported by the North Vietnamese and to some degree, the Soviets and Chinese.

The television series pulls the viewer into this history with a mix of television footage, stories from American and Vietnamese participants and a wide variety of audiotapes, journals and other information that give an inside perspective on how Vietnam was being viewed and acted upon by American presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon. As a baby boomer, I lived through this period, but most of the series focused on the period up until 1970 before I went to college. I remember first hand the marches, the anti-war movement, the horrible clash in the streets of Chicago during the 1968 Democratic political convention and so much more. We were seeing scenes about the war on the evening news on TV and young men from our neighborhood were being drafted and sent to Vietnam.

The powerful thing about this series for me was to learn so much about what was not obvious at the time. I didn't really hear the stories about the experiences of the veterans until many years later when compelling books like Michael Herr's Dispatches and Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie brought back stories of the life vets had been living while fighting the war. Sheehan, who was a journalist covering the war, is one of many people who recount their experiences and those of hundreds of people he talked to while over in 'Nam for the documentary. At the time, politicians like Johnson and Nixon seemed to be lying about what was really happening over there, but the tapes of their conversations during this period were staggering in highlighting the differences between what they said publicly and what they were saying behind closed doors.

We also learn a bit about the leadership of North Vietnam and the dynamics of how the Chinese and Soviet communists influenced the leaders of this country. We heard a lot about Ho Chi Minh in news coverage at the time. Ho was the spiritual father of the North and a brilliant politician, but the series hones in on Le Duan, who wrested power from Ho in the mid-Sixties and who pushed for a very militant strategy in executing the war. In a huge irony, Le Duan pushed for what became known as the Tet Offensive in early 1968 and it turned to be a military disaster for the North and the Vietcong. Lyndon Johnson touted this win after the battles, but he'd lost so much credibility with his previous claims of progress that one of the few clear-cut military victories for the Americans became a turning point as the opposition to the war continued to rise.

One can draw many lessons from this series and the events it depicts. One obvious one is that the US can't win a war if the leadership we support is corrupt and not supported by the people of the nation. Over 58,000 US participants died in the war, but the various US presidents couldn't really explain why we needed to be there other than to fight the communists. But if the leaders in a country aren't supported by the people, even the best military forces can't change that political reality. It's a sad truth we've seen in other wars since Vietnam. On the other hand, the leaders in the North were brutal and even refused to treat captured American's as POWs. At the time, Vietnam just didn't seem like our fight and this documentary reinforced this. Nonetheless, the commentary from South Vietnamese people in the series made it clear that there was strong opposition to the North and communism in South Vietnam, and the clash had strong elements of a civil war as the US involvement lessened.

The war in Vietnam divided our country and set in motion political and cultural divisions which still exist. But the truth about what happened was complex and not easily boiled down into simple slogans. Burns and Novick have done a great service to the US and likely to the Vietnamese as well in diving deep into this war and the times which surrounded it and letting viewers choose what to make of this mosaic. The ending is poignant, as veterans from both sides of the war, Americans and North Vietnamese, meet many years after the war ended and found understanding at a human level with the surviving warriors of the opposition.

September 20, 2017

This past weekend, my wife Cindy and I returned to the Cape Cod to celebrate our 28th anniversary. Our Cape history goes back to the early years of our marriage and it's always been a special place for us. Richard Russo wrote a novel called Cape Cod Magic and truly it's always felt that way to us. Going to the Cape brings back old memories, but there's often new bits of experience in store.

After a scrumptious seafood lunch at Seafood Sam's on the Sandwich side of the canal, I dropped Cindy at a local beach and strode back up a hump-backed boardwalk to my car. A few young men in white shirts and ties were unloading a truck and I wondered what that was all about. I'd find out later. I'm not much of a beach person, so I drove to the nearby Sandwich village and stopped in at the local library. Outside I saw this stone plaque in the shape off a book.

The inscription had always been a favorite of the pastor at our church and it was a reminder that we all have choices about how we spend our time now and going forward. I relaxed with a favorite pursuit - reading in the library for a while - and recharged my phone. Then I set out on walk through the village. For about five years, some close friends had lived in Sandwich. It's a classic New England village, replete with homes that go back over 150 years, cute cafes and a cornucopia of bushes, beach grasses, and other greenery filling the nooks and crannies between houses and shops. At one time, Sandwich connected dIrectly to the mainland before the canal was dredged and along my walk, I saw this stone which dated from that earlier time.

A while later I returned to the beach. As I again followed the boardwalk to the beach, I encountered an attractive, young woman in a open-backed, white dress accompanied by several other young women in light tan outfits -- a bridal party. Just ahead on the beach, a crowd had gathered by the water. I found my wife about 100 yards further down the beach and we watched briefly as the wedding ceremony began. Just another bit of that Cape Cod magic.

We drove up the Cape to our hotel in Wellfleet. A while later, we donned our swim suits and swam in an outdoor pool whose waters had been warmed using an array of solar panels. Our stay at the Cape had begun. We had a fine meal that evening at Van Rensselaer's a few miles down the road, which began with the local specialty -- fresh Wellfleet oysters. The rest of the meal was equally good and we began to settle in for a fun weekend.

The next morning, we took to the bike path. The Cape Cod Rail Trail extends from Dennis to Wellfleet, so we were on the final portion heading up toward Marconi Beach. Here's a look at a view of the bay side looking out from the trail:

I'll close this post with a view of the bike trail itself looking towards it terminus. We'd been on the Cape less than a day, but we were already much more relaxed as we let the beauty of the outdoors weave its spell upon us.

August 12, 2017

My first experience seeing jazz bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding was at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2011, after she had won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. This year, she was booked as part of the jazz trio Allen, Carrington and Spalding. Christian McBride, musical director for the festival, introduced the group and noted that the pianist Geri Allen had died about a month ago. However, the group wanted to play anyway as a tribute to her. To complete the trio, three pianists had agreed to sit in, beginning with Christian Sands, who had just finished playing a set with Christian McBride's Big Band.

On the first song, Esperanza began by singing a high pitched aria and then added her upright bass. Terri Lyne Carrington added polyrhythmic drum parts to drive the music forward. During Spalding's solo, her singing and bass felt like a single well honed unit, the bass driving the bottom and her vocals soaring high above, and all the while interacting with the pushes and prods of the other musicians. This version of the band hit its stride on the second song, which was high speed, straight ahead jazz. Carrington propelled the group forward and added flourishes which reminded me of Elvin Jones. In this setting, Sands played in a more free flowing style than I seen when he was playing in the big band. The communication among the musicians was wonderful here, but begged the question of how it would have sounded if Allen had been there to add her own unique piano sounds.

Here's a view of Spalding and Carrington with Christian Sands in the piano chair.

After the third song, Sands left and Carrington offered some heartfelt words about how much they had enjoyed playing with Geri Allen and how they were offering this day's music as a tribute.

The next pianist to join was Vijay Iyer, fresh off a set played with his own sextet. Piano is an amazingly versatile instrument and Vijay took it to different places. His flowing lines reminded me of the work of Chick Corea and Hiromi. On this song, the structure reminded me of the Steve Swallow song Falling Grace, particularly when Esperanza was soloing over the passing chords and warm major key sounds. Here's a shot with Vijay.

The group played a mix of standards and Allen's own compositions. On The Drumming Song, written by Allen, pianist Jason Moran joined the group. This song had a stark, spare beginning, before evolving into a ballad. Moran played precise flowing arpeggios, leaving space for Esperanza's bass lines and exquisite brush work from Carrington. Moran seemed the most comfortable of the pianists in this unusual context. His playing was supportive and also added color to the alchemy produced by the duo of Spalding and Carrington. Here's another shot of them in action.

Before they finished, Esperanza talked about the ACS band and how they had wanted to play the standards within a trio format. She added that Allen's own compositions fit well and were standards in a sense. She again emphasized that this was a tribute, not just a set of all star jazz trios. The crowd sounded restless and she said, "we've got more for you."

On the final song, all three pianists took turns. Early in the song, Esperanza cut loose on a fast-paced bebop solo and then segued into a melodic line as Christian Sands jumped back in. At this point, it felt like something special was happening. The music was clearly unrehearsed, but replete with energy. Sands stepped aside and Vijay re-joined with his much more vertical piano style. In response, Spalding simplified her bass lines and Carrington banged out fills on her toms. As she shifted to her ride cymbal, Moran took his turn and brought the music back to a bright melodic feel. Here's the trio with Moran playing.

At the end, Esperanza chanted "Thank You, Geri" several times in succession with high energy, reaffirming that what we had just seen was a tribute and made possible by the music and spirit of Ms. Allen, not to mention all of these wonderful musicians. This peformance was one of my favorite moments in the years that I've attended Newport Jazz. Thanks so much to all of the musicians for this special tribute.

August 09, 2017

This year's excursion to the Newport Jazz Festival started with rain, but the skies eventually cleared and the great music of the day prevailed. The ride in was faster than usual, likely owing to the clouds overhead and a mixed forecast. Equipped with an umbrella, LL Bean rain jacket, a foldup chair and small pack, I rode the bus from the upper lot to the entrance. After a quick check through security, I got my program and headed to the main stage area and picked out a spot to the right about 150 feet back. I checked the program and decided my next stop would be the Quad Stage, where a special show called Jazz 100 was just beginning.

The seats by the Quad Stage were filled, so I skirted to the left. Rivulets of water scattered off of the tent's edge, but the music had begun. Jazz 100 featured an ensemble hand-picked by bandleader and pianist Danilo Perez and celebrated the music of Dizzy, Ella, Mongo & Monk. The front line was fabulous: Chris Potter on saxophones, Avishai Cohen on trumpet and Josh Roseman on trombone. As I arrived Cohen played some melodic lines over a latin beat. A little while later, Potter took over. He played a powerful solo with echoes of Coltrane on tenor sax and the band drove hard behind him. The sound shifted to percussion. Roman Diaz stood behind an array of congas and other drums, laid down a Cuban jazz beat on his congas and accompanied them with energetic vocals in Spanish. At one point, drummer Adam Cruz joined him and overlaid cymbal work and Perez also jumped in to help Eventually Cruz and Perez returned to their own instruments to restate the song's melody and bring it to a close. Perez followed with an angular solo piece dedicated to Thelonius Monk. Next was the classic song Afro Blue. Here the rhythm section built a strong foundation between the drummers and bassist Ben Street, then sparse piano notes segued into the song. Josh Roseman led the front line on this one, then Cohen and Potter filled in harmonies on the melody ala the hard bop Blue Note sound of the late Fifties. Here is what the band looked like at work (Perez is hidden by one of the many umbrellas):

One treat was to hear Potter playing much of the time on soprano sax. Potter's tenor lines ripple through the history of jazz with nods to bebop, Dexter Gordon and more, but his soprano work is more ethereal and had sweet tones that reminded me of Wayne Shorter's best work on the instrument. As the band's music drew to a close, Potter's high notes floated above us all.

I returned to the main area, formally called the Fort Stage. The next band up was Christian McBride's big band.

McBride was a busy guy on this day. He's recently become the musical director for the festival, but here he was out front as the band leader. The band has a huge brassy sound coupled with a healthy dose of funk. It was fun to see a bassist (McBride) leading the band and the material dipped deep into the music of jazz greats who'd influenced him including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and George Duke. On Black Narcissus (by Henderson), saxophonist Ron Blake played a fine sax solo and was backed by Christian Sands on the piano. Next, McBride introduced a special guest, Warren Wolf on vibes. Wolf added another dimension to the band with his highly percussive approach to vibes and also filled out the bottom with ringing tones. The last part of the song was very effective as Wolf laid the foundation and the tight horn section punched out its lines on a Cedar Walton tune. McBride had a large band, but gave all of the musicians a chance to shine with lots of solos and tight ensemble work. The band put on a great show and had me smiling by the time they closed it out. And the rain had stopped and was over for the day.

I'll write another post on Newport to talk about a special tribute that took place later that Saturday afternoon.

May 28, 2017

The year before I went to college, a friend came back from his university with a new discovery -- a new group called the Allman Brothers Band. My friends and I loved the music, but it was beyond the capabilities of the fledgling band we formed a few months later. The intensity of the dual guitars of Duane Allman and Dickie Betts were powerful and Duane's slide guitar work was like nothing I'd ever heard. Younger brother Gregg wrote some fine tunes such as Whipping Post and the group quickly became one of my favorite bands.

All of this came to mind when the news came that Gregg Allman had passed at age 69, some 45 years after his older brother Duane died. The Allman Brothers had been a big part of my musical roots and my passion for the band endured.

When I went to college, I told all of my friends about the band, so we were excited when we saw the following poster about an upcoming live concert at Skidmore College, just about 30 miles north of our school RPI in Troy, New York as we approached the end of our freshman year.

We didn't have a car, but managed to get some rides up to the concert area and were there when the band set up. This was just weeks before the band released its Live at Fillmore East album. The music was phenomenal, even though we were hearing some songs like Elizabeth Reed and Statesboro Blues for the first time or in much more extended renditions than I'd heard on the studio versions. My recollection was that they played two long sets. Duane was clearly the leader and introduced all of the songs in addition to playing slide and lead guitars on his Les Pauls. Gregg's hair had grown long and blond, and he anchored the group on keyboards and vocals.

That fall I returned to college after a summer break and bought tickets to see the band again in November, 1971. We were all stunned to hear the news of Duane's death in late October that year. We'd expected the band would cancel, but the remaining members re-grouped and played the concert as scheduled. On some tunes, both Dickie and Gregg played guitar, and Dickie filled in the missing slide guitar parts, but the loss of Duane was palpable.

Tragedy continued to visit the band and by the next time I saw them in 1972, bassist Berry Oakley had also died. But the Allman Brothers Band carried on and forged a different sound with contributions from newcomers like pianist Chuck Leavell and bassist Lamar Williamson.

Duane had created a framework that was designed to last and you could never forget that there had been two Allman brothers in the original band. I saw the group several times during the next few years before they went through a period of breakups. As a musician, I learned from both Duane and Dickie on guitar and also learned to play some of Greg's best songs such as Midnight Rider and Melissa. Gregg's first solo album worked well and he did a fine job both on his own music and on songs like Jackson Browne's These Days.

During the Nineties, the band got new life as guitarist Warren Haynes joined the group and brought back the dueling guitars concept that had worked so well when Duane was in the band. Later in the decade, a young player, Derek Trucks, started filling in as yet another amazing slide guitarist.

I took my oldest son to see the band in 2007. This version featured both Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks on guitars -- both slide and electric -- and Gregg sang most of the vocals. It had been thirty years since I'd seen them, but the band played wonderfully and Duane's spirit was still present in the the band's style and intensity.

I've been in a rock group the last several years and I've brought in several of the Allmans' songs into the bands repertoire, including songs like "Statesboro Blues" and "One Way Out." Just last week, I played on the porch with several musicians from my church and we jammed on acoustic instruments on songs like "Midnight Rider", "Rambling Man" and "Melissa."

And now the youngest Allman brother has joined his older brother in the ranks of the departed. The two men leave a rich legacy of music that will stand the test of time. The Allman Brothers Band created a remarkable blend of southern rock and blues and bought an improvisatory ethos into the world of rock. Gregg managed to carry the flag as the surviving Allman and it's hard to dispute how well the band turned out even as the membership changed over the years. And his songs also live on, telling tales of life on the road and both the light and dark side of life. He will be missed.

December 26, 2016

Last October, I browsed books in Malaprops, one of my favorite bookstores in Asheville, North Carolina and started to read Patti Smith's memoir of her early days living in New York City -- Just Kids. The words were riveting and I made a mental note to read the book.

I liked the book a lot. Like Patti, I am both a musician and a writer, so there was common ground from the start. But this book is really about her time with Robert Mapplethorpe in the city and the life they led together as they pursued their ambitions to be artists. Just Kids works on many levels. Like many young artists, they struggled not only to work on their art, but also just to survive in the hard-edged Brooklyn and New York of the late Sixties and early Seventies. It's also an improbable love story, as two very different people grow to find their common threads both as artists and at the human level. They both later grew to be famous -- Patti as a punk rock star and Robert as a brilliant but controversial photographer of highly sexualized images -- but this book is mostly about the period before all of that happened. Any artist needs to find their way and the stories about Patti's early love of books and teenage aspirations to make art a part of her life are powerful. She talks about her dreams of working side by side with another artist.

At age twenty, she picks up stake from her home in southern New Jersey and takes a bus trip to New York with drawing pencils, notebook and a few possessions in tow. It's the summer of 1967. Patti sleeps on park benches and fights hunger before she gains the first of several jobs at bookstores. Soon after, she meets Robert and they gradually get to know each other and find places to stay in Brooklyn where he has some friends. Robert shows her his paintings and they realize they have a common love of art.

The book walks through a chronology of the late Sixties and they both pursue their art -- Robert with his drawings and Patti both in drawing and words. They fall in and out of love, but revolve around each other like twin satellites, each caring for and nurturing the other.

Many people have this image of artists or musicians rapidly finding their way and becoming stars at a young age, but this book reveals more typical stories, where both Patti and Robert struggle to find their North Star and have many bumps and side trips along the way. Patti's interest in music evolves slowly, but she sees musicians and performers such as Jim Morrison and internalizes a sense that she also could do that. Robert does cut and paste of the photographs of others and only gradually gets to learn and use the Polaroid instant camera technology which became his prototypical medium.

The book is also a fascinating journey into the world of New York during this period. When they move to a set of apartments called the Chelsea, they find a broader community of artists, both known and aspiring. Along the way, Patti meets famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Johnny Winter, beat poet Gregory Corso and both Robert and Patti start to hang out at Max's Kansas City in the village and get drawn into the circle of Andy Warhol's followers. They both continue to develop their art and stay close, even though they are drawn to other partners.

In time, Patti dives deep into a love of music and performing, but never lets go of her interests in visual arts and writing, while Robert continues along his path as a photographic artist. One of the touching scenes is when their paths cross again in the late Seventies as they collaborate on a joint show at a New York gallery. By this time, Robert has congratulated Patti on becoming famous first -- her hit "Because the Night" has been released -- and he contributed to her work by posing her for photos which became the covers of her albums.

The book has a sad and poignant coda. The two artists have both become famous for doing what they loved, but Robert contracts AIDS in the mid-Eighties. Patti re-connects with him and she finds ways to help him out. Even as his health declines, Robert helps create more images of Patti for her albums.

Just Kids is powerful and I'd recommend it to any creative person who wants to hear how other artists have found their way to create their art or music and make a living. But it is also a human story, of two people who care for each other no matter what comes their way. Patti's writing is eloquent and fully up to the task of sharing this journey.

November 24, 2016

The summons came in the late Fall around 2007. You're invited to breakfast. My wife Cindy and I had been asked to breakfast by our neighbor, Paddy Wazan. Paddy and her husband Hank lived in a unique house across the street, a contemporary built during the Sixties to Hank's specifications, complete with a classic New England living room and a garden one could see through the glass behind the dining area in the middle of the house. On this morning, we weren't the only guests; another couple from in town had also been invited. We all sat around the breakfast table, which filled with vivid conversations, fueled by wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. Soon a brunch was served -- replete with eggs, pastries, bacon, fruit, strong coffee and juice. We hadn't seen Paddy very much since we'd moved onto the street, since she spent her summers in Nantucket and would come back to our town of Norfolk for the winters. Paddy had loads of energy and loved hosting guests and cooking delicious meals. Hank was a quiet man, but loved doing projects and had a background in architecture. They were a generation older than us, but good neighbors.

As I write this, another nine years have elapsed and so much has happened since then. This was one of our early introductions to Paddy, but we got a glimpse of her vitality and artistry in the kitchen during that breakfast and on other occasions where she would host groups large and small. In 2009, all of this changed. Hank was diagnosed with cancer and within weeks he had passed. Paddy came back from Nantucket and had to re-build her life without having her beloved Hank by her side. The sad occasion brought our families closer together, as Cindy helped Paddy get organized when she decided to sell the house in Norfolk and I would help Paddy with whatever computer needs she had.

In time, the Norfolk house was sold, but we soon received the first of many invites to her new abode, a two-story apartment in Wellesley. She would get in touch with Cindy and we take the jaunt across a few towns to her place. Food was a common theme; she always seemed to have a delicious meal waiting for us. She had also struck up a relationship with our son Jason and their fifty some year age difference didn't stop them from becoming fast friends.

Paddy loved to travel and would regale us with tales of her trips to places like Australia and Japan. Over time, she'd met people from all over the world and was quick to make a plan and take a trip to see these far flung friends. As she got to know Jason better, she insisted that she would make a visit to see him in his adopted town of Asheville, North Carolina, where he was studying at the local college UNC at Asheville and producing remarkable art. So, in the fall of 2011, our family made plans to visit Jason in Asheville and Paddy arranged to visit during the same time period, just a few days before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving that year was special. We all arrived at Jason's house in West Asheville, which he shared with three roommates from UNCA and immediately got to work cleaning and making preparations for the Thanksgiving feast. Paddy was a guest, but she had definite ideas about what food we would need and we got a few additional provisions at a supermarket down the street. Paddy took command of the process of cooking the bird and she had several other ideas about what needed to go with it. I can remember sitting on the porch in a rocking chair and smelling the enticing mix of foods, both traditional and vegetarian. Later we all sat down for the meal and it was one of the best ones in our memory, as Paddy had worked her culinary magic in a strange kitchen and produced a delicious and diverse meal.

During the next year, Paddy invited us to visit her on Nantucket, so Jason, Cindy and I hopped on a ferry from Hyannis and took our first voyage to Nantucket. Nantucket is an amazing place and we found that Paddy had a charming two story apartment she called the Snuggery hear the harbor. We were staying at a bed and breakfast place nearby, but passed on the regular breakfast to join Paddy for a shared meal at her home. Over the weekend, Paddy took us all around Nantucket and we had a fabulous time. Here is a picture of Paddy with Cindy and Jason on the beach.

Our family had many other fine visits with Paddy over these years. Whether we were meeting at her apartment for brunch or sharing a lunch at a local seafood restaurant, there was always much to talk about. Paddy tended to be feisty and unstoppable. She had the occasional health issue, but exhibited marvelous resilience and came back from many challenges and then would set out to yet another destination. Last winter we met at her house and she told us about a planned trip to Africa. A few months later, she came back and told us about it; she'd gone on safari and seen so much else on a trip to South Africa.

We were looking forward to seeing her again when she came back to Wellesley in the late Fall, but heard unfortunate news in mid-October. She'd had a relapse in a bout with cancer and was flown back from Nantucket to a Boston hospital. After so many times of pushing back illnesses and other incidents, she'd finally reached a point where she was beyond treatment. She did return to her home in Wellesley under hospice care and she said her goodbyes over a couple of weeks. She passed away about a week ago and we attended her memorial service and a reception yesterday. Friends and family gathered, and we all told stories about her, the many times we had met and about her unrelenting zest for life. Paddy will be missed, but will also live on in our memories as a treasured friend and remarkable example of a well-lived life. One of her friends called her "the hostess with the mostest." Yes. Here is a picture of Paddy with Cindy and Jason in front of her Nantucket apartment. Au revoir dear friend.

November 13, 2016

Like many Americans, I viewed the election results last Tuesday night as they emerged and came to the realization that Donald Trump had a real shot at winning the election. All of the expert pontification about the narrow road to a Trump victory in the Electoral College proved to be inaccurate; he paved a highway that most pundits said was illusory at best. So, is this a mandate for radical change, either in following the various threads of Trump's various initiatives or in pushing through the roadmap of the Republican party? I'll note that more people voted against Trump than for him, so this was a razor thin victory and more fodder for those who'd like to dismantle the electoral college. So it is hardly a mandate and one which also has strong opposition, at least in numbers.

But this is a time to think about what went wrong to produce an election that so many people found disheartening. Here are some thoughts.

Why did Hilary Clinton lose? She complained about FBI director James Coney, but she never addressed several fundamental issues. Her primary messages in the last weeks were to complain about how bad Trump was. When I found out about the email debacle, my first thought was, one set of rules for the Clintons, another set for everybody else. Using a private email server for government business was a foolish mistake, particularly in the post 9/11 era. Hilary's team was also arrogant and acted like she was entitled to be President because she'd paid her dues. She is much more qualified to be President than Mr. Trump based on her experience, but no marketing campaign can be successful if there isn't a coherent message.

Globalization - Both candidates were in denial about the degree to which globalization has totally changed the game when it comes to running successful businesses or having a successful national economy. Trump did a good job of realizing that rust belt America had been left behind when the post WWII manufacturing economy began transforming into the information economy in the Nineties. But he implied that he could turn back the clock and get those manufacturing jobs back. Sorry, that economy is gone. Today manufacturing is still a robust industry, but it's highly automated and requires higher levels of skills for the participants. The US can't turn its back on the global economy and expect to have the economic success that Trump has implied is just around the corner after he gets elected.

International Trade - This issue was a punching bag for Trump and Bernie Sanders, and Hilary Clinton changed her positions to pile on. All were in agreement that trade deals were a bad idea, at least in their public stances. But it's easy to criticize diplomacy and to take shots from the outside. It sounds like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) might have even lived up to Hilary's original assessment that it was the gold standard for trade deals. The alternative is to let China set the rules for the Asian economy, which would be a disaster for US economic interests. Check out the assessment Tom Friedman did of the deal in a column he wrote several months ago. If we don't engage in trade deals, somebody else will set the rules and many countries do have not the rule of law, environment protections and intellectual property protections that make the US a great place to do business. We can't ensure a level playing field for our US economy unless we negotiate to make it so.

The Electoral College - This anachronistic system is bad for a whole bunch of reasons. It's absurd to have the winner of the popular vote -- whoever they are -- lose and have the current system where the only competition is in so-called battleground states. In most states, your vote for President doesn't count under the current system, whether its Massachusetts, Alabama or California. The current approach encourages pandering to special interests and totally ignoring the needs of the larger states who aren't considered to be "in play."

Repeal and Replace Obamacare -- This is a case where a catchy slogan is supposed to be enough to substitute for the hard work of negotiating a better approach to meeting the health insurance needs of all of the millions who can't be on company or other group health plans. But 20 million people have enrolled in Obamacare because it met their needs. This despite the myopic view of numerous states that refused to expand Medicaid to cover the poorest of citizens. This deal was messy when it was being negotiated and hardly perfect. But trashing the deal without having a substitute ready will penalize the struggling portions of the poor, working class and middle class that don't have a better approach today than Obamacare. Show me the better program and then maybe I can get behind it. Or more reasonably, Congress needs to do its job and fix it, instead of complaining while they (the members of congress) get gold star health coverage from the government.

Climate Change - The science is clear. Climate change is happening and is not a conspiracy set out by the Chinese government as Trump has absurdly claimed. The Paris agreement is a reasonable step forward, but is still not a solution in itself. The oil industry in the US has its head in the sand on this issue and Trump has been pandering to the anti-science crowd. The US should ratify the Paris agreement, but the Republican party is on record in denying there is even a problem. In the meantime, seas are rising, our shoreside military installations in areas like Norfolk, VA face flooding conditions and a wide array of conditions caused by increasingly volatile weather are threatening multiple regions of the country. The opposition is making economic arguments, but the problem won't go away unless we get real about what's really happening instead of choosing to deny whatever data we choose not agree with.

As I put together this list, these items were merely the first ones which came to mind. The list could go on, but the common thread is that we need to get the real data about what is happening in problem areas in our country, before we can even hope to solve problems. It's frustrating when the politicians lie about what's really happening or choose to sell pipe dreams instead of acknowledging an issue and then doing the hard work of developing programs that work and negotiating until they come to life. For whatever reasons, the choices this year were unsatisfactory for many voters. As John Kennedy once said, it's time to pass the political torch to a new generation of leaders. We can do better than we did in 2016 and we must.